Reach out: We are our brother’s keeper

February 12, 2009

Two Michigan men lost their lives recently in tragedies that didn't have to happen.

Daniel Hayes Jr., age 67, was found frozen in his truck outside his Detroit-area home. When found, he was sitting in the front seat of his truck with the door open. Police say Hayes was covered with snow but may have died up to two weeks earlier from a heart attack or other natural cause. Sumpter Township police Sgt. Michael Czinski said Hayes' home had no heat or water and was too filthy to live in. Hayes apparently had been living in his truck. His two dogs were found starved to death in their nearby dog house.

In Bay City, 93-year-old Marvin Schur was found frozen to death inside his home just four days after the city's electric company placed a device on his meter limiting the amount of electricity he could use. Bay City's city manager said Schur was four months behind on his electric bill, and when he was found there were thousands of dollars in cash in his home, set aside with specific bills to pay.

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The circumstances in each case are different, but the bottom line is both men would have benefited, and likely been alive today, if someone would have reached out to help.

We can't put the blame for Marvin Schur's death on the utility company, because if someone in his neighborhood would have intervened the electric company would never have been involved.

If someone would have looked in on Marvin Schur on a regular basis, they would have seen the money and unpaid bills, they would have seen a man trying to heat his home with his electric stove, and they would have seen that Marvin Schur needed help to survive.

The ice on the inside of Marvin Schur's windows should have been an indication to anyone passing by or living nearby that something was wrong. Someone saw it, perhaps many, but no one did anything about it. Marvin Schur died a slow, painful death and one that was preventable … if only someone would have knocked on his door to see how he was or if he needed anything.

If someone would have looked in on Daniel Hayes, they would have seen how dirty his home was, they would have seen he had no heat or water, they would have seen his starving dogs, and they would have seen that Daniel Hayes needed help to survive.

Daniel Hayes may have died of natural causes, but his death, too, may have been preventable … if only someone would have reached out to him before he was forced out of his home and into a life in the confines of his truck during the cold winter months.

As a society, we are quick to avoid the mentally ill, the elderly and those with dementia. When something tragic happens like the freezing deaths of Daniel Hayes and Marvin Schur, we shake our heads in dismay as we go on with our lives, refusing to look back or see ourselves as part of the cause of the tragedy.

We have a responsibility to our elderly and to those who suffer with mental illness. We can't always rely on governmental programs to be there. It's up to each one of us to open our eyes, our ears and our hearts to those in need. If only someone would have stepped up, been a good neighbor and shown some care and compassion, Daniel Hayes would not have died homeless and Marvin Schur would not have frozen to death in his home.